Rainbox Six Three - Black Arrow

[macosx]

cheers Neil

[NeilMcRae]

supposedely this was suppose to have Live V3.0 features with clans but I'm stuffed if I can find it

[NeilMcRae]

found the clan stuff but the web end is running yet, it has cool clan features and a messaging system.

[the shape]

Shape, whats Predator?

The rules for Predator are thus. Survival mode (not Team Survival). As many players as you like. Everyone takes an AK, an Eagle, and some nades. Nominate someone as the Predator. Only he may use the AK-47; everyone else may only brandish and fire the Eagle. The Predator may *wield* the Eagle but never *fire* it. He's against everyone. Everyone is against him. The genius part is, when the Predator is carrying the Eagle, you can't tell him apart from everyone else. He can be standing right next to you, and only when he switches to the AK do you know for certain it's him, because nobody else is allowed to show or fire the AK. He *has* to use it to kill you, so it gives him away. The first person to nail the Predator becomes the next Predator. If nerves get the better of you and you kill someone other than the Predator, you kill yourself -- that's what the nades are for, not for offense.

It might sound convoluted and/or daft, but it's absolutely goddamn terrifying. Which is why it's fun. Have a go. It's best with at least five players. Totally revitalized the game for us. Scharins is a good start.

[nonny]

Sorry but am I the only one that hates these "made up" game modes?

[NeilMcRae]

apart from 50cal mayhem I agree with you nonny

Neil.

[Uli]

what about the few bugs and shortcomings of the first installment - have they been fixed?

i mean, is it now possible

- to shoot through small spaces properly?
- that bullets pierce cover made from wooden materials (desks, barrels etc.) as well?
- to select the fire mode of the weapons?
- that leaning is much less sensitive to control?
- to abort an online session?
- to better hit running enemies?
- to have a chance against circling/strafing players in close combat even with a 128/1024 kbit dsl stream?
- to choose an mp5 without the scope (this combination doesnt make any sense to me!)?

thanks!

[the shape]

In short: have they turned it into the PC version?

No!

It's a "cheeky update" remember. Almost entirely the same game as before. The main draw: new online modes and maps.

Weapons cause more damage up close than before, the lean glitch is solved as far as I can tell. That's about it. Um, the HUD is nice and orangey!

Shooting through small spaces? I was always able to shoot between stairs, the chainlink fence, the metal gangwalk in Scharins etc without any problems in RSix3. What do you mean?

Wood, same as before, I think.

Trigger grouping: all still full auto. I liked being able to change this when I'd have a go on someone's PC, but it's not essential is it? Which button would you map it to?!

Leaning sensitive to control? Dunno what that means. Leaning is digital in both games. (I probably misunderstood. I do that.)

Haven't aborted an online game yet, but I think it's the same as before. What they've made slightly better here is that, after you're dead, you can pop in and change your equipment about, while waiting for the round to end. Oh and you get huddle time before each round, to chat privately with your team about tactics, while looking over a map of the current level.

Running enemies are hard to hit in real life. This is okay. Isn't it?

Circling/strafing covered above. They've made the guns hit harder up close, which is fair enough. Wouldn't know how this plays out on a 1024kbit connection as I'm on 3000kbit. Sorry.

Both MP5 models still have 3.5x scopes.

Almost exactly the same game as before. Couple new modes. Still very much worth it. And UK folks can get it from Play.com for fifteen quid.

[PeteJ]

I fancy getting this as I quite enjoyed RS-3, but I have two questions first:

Can you play co-op on a single Xbox (splitscreen)?
Is it any good?

Thanks

[NeilMcRae]

Yes you can play co-op in split screen but not on live, i.e. no guests.
There is only one mode that you can't play split screen which is Lone Rush
mode which as its name gives away isn't a surprise!

Yes its good. Worth the 15quid if you buy OXBM [UK] there is a fiver off voucher for game,

Neil.

[Uzion]

what!?

i played through rainbow six with two other mates through the simgle player missions

theyve take this out in black arrow?!

[Dezm0nd]

I think he means you cannot play Live co-op with your friend sitting next to you. Only over Xbox 1 per machine!

You can however play co-op split screen without using xbox live

[the shape]

Exactly. Two weird things about split-screen though:

It forces you to sign out of Live before playing split-screen. So you can't pick up invites, check who's online, get your text messages () etc during split-screen matches.

It defaults to lefty Southpaw control of the sticks, for both players, every time you start a fresh split-screen game! Clearly some left-handed coder got fired and left that little nugget in on his last day.

These don't matter too much to me, as split-screen will be the part of Black Arrow I play least. They just really stuck out when I had a few goes of the mode yesterday out of curiosity.

[Commander Marklar]

I assume it defaulting to a certain control style that it can be changed? I might pick this up just for the split-screen co-op*. I kind of enjoyed the first title in a perverse way, even if the online play was bollocks.

* I assume LAN co-op too?

[Uzion]

phew thats fine regarding the co op thing

cheers